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On Wednesday, 2nd of March, from 10am to 3pm at the UC3M stand at this fair, attendees will be able to experience what the 3D music of the future will be like, testing how our brain works when listening to and locating three-dimensional spatial sound. "This is the basis of current virtual reality systems (related to audio systems) and of what is colloquially known as 8D music", explains the researcher responsible for this activity, Luis Antonio Azpicueta, from the UC3M Signal Theory and Communications Department. To do this, they will use binaural mannequins (which have two ears) that make live 3D sound recordings to later play through headphones and create an immersive sensation. In addition, audio rendering software will be used to show what "music of the future" will be like, with which users will be able to "move" the sound sources (musical instruments) in real time and arrange them however they want.

During the afternoon shift at the University's stand, from 3pm to 8pm, attendees will be able to learn symmetric cryptography (data encryption and authentication techniques) through Crypto Go, an educational card game created by the researchers themselves. "We want to teach, in a fun way, the security risks we face if we browse the Internet without safeguards and how cryptography allows us to protect our communications", says the researcher responsible for this activity, Ana Isabel González-Tablas, from the Computer Science Department at UC3M. Attendees will be able to learn the rules of Crypto Go, which consists of 108 cards representing 6 types of cryptographic tools that each player can combine in different ways, looking for combinations that provide reliable data protection with the highest possible level of security. The game has several levels and can be used for beginner's cryptography activities, training of professionals in this sector or, if you have some cryptography knowledge, for the sheer pleasure of playing.

That same day, 2nd of March, from 4:30pm to 5pm, in the Agora at the Madrid esCiencia Fair, an interactive and informative talk will take place about the relationship between archaeology, cinema and video games through the vision of two icons in these areas, Indiana Jones and Lara Croft. "The heroes and heroines of archaeology in film and video games are intergenerational references worldwide. Their courage and physique draw you in, but the scientific realities and experiences in their decisions and actions, such as the significance of being astonished, what facts and data are crucial, the capricious link between knowledge and luck, or that perseverance lays the foundation for the discovery are barely noticed", points out the person in charge of this activity, researcher Carlos Maciá-Barber, professor of Journalism at the UC3M Communications Department. In his talk, he will show the links that exist between different archaeological investigations and various aspects of this, such as Hollywood movies or some popular video games.

Other UC3M activities carried out in collaboration with the madri+d Foundation

During the four days of the Fair, from the 2nd – 5th of March, in a space next to the stand for the madri+d Knowledge Foundation, of the Community of Madrid, the MECATRAN research group from UC3M will show its instrumented vehicle, a buggy equipped with sensors and actuators that, in the last few years, have been incorporated into mass production vehicles, in order to improve their safety and comfort. "These systems, which have traditionally been developed to help drivers drive the vehicle, play a key role in self-driving cars", says the head of the MECATRAN research group, MaríaJesúsLópez Boada, professor in UC3M's Mechanical Engineering Department. These vehicles make up different networks, such as intra-vehicle and inter-vehicle networks. "On the one hand, the latter network uses shared service platforms and cloud computing, reducing information storage and the computational load on the vehicle. On the other hand, intra-vehicle networks seek to identify both vehicle and road conditions, which is essential for safe driving, vehicle and road maintenance and efficient traffic management".

Furthermore, several researchers from European scientific projects at UC3M will be at the stand for the madri+d Knowledge Foundation, of the Community of Madrid, with various activities. On the 2nd of March, Fabio di Cosmo, CONEX-Plus researcher at the UC3M Mathematics Department, will hold a workshop to talk about the relationship between group theory and some mathematical puzzles in the form of games. On the 4th of March, several activities will take place. Firstly, Carlos Romero Villarreal, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie researcher at the UC3M Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering Department, will perform an experiment to learn how to generate hydrogen, the clean energy of the future. Secondly, Manuel José López Morales, Early Stage Researcher of the H2020 TeamUp5G project in the UC3M Signal Theory and Communications Department, will perform an experiment to understand the gain of 5G antennas. Thirdly, Diego González Morín, also an Early Stage Researcher of the TeamUp5G project, will hold an exhibition on the capabilities of extended reality using virtual reality glasses.

In addition, a UC3M spinoff, Inrobics Social Robotics, will present its healthcare rehabilitation solution, an autonomous robotics system based on Artificial Intelligence. This activity will take place on the 2nd of March at the stand for start-ups collaborating with the madri+d Technology-Based Entrepreneurship Area.

The Madrid esCiencia Fair 2022 has been designed as a comprehensive display of scientific-technological innovation in the Community of Madrid from a recreational and participatory point of view. It brings together scientists, professors, entrepreneurs, programmers, artists and other professionals from the R&D&I sector, who provide first-hand knowledge of concepts in the field of research in the new era of digital transformation. In addition, it aims for its own participants (researchers, entrepreneurs, teachers, students...) to be the ones who show and explain science in all its beauty and its impact on our daily lives. This event is organised by the madri+d Knowledge Foundation, of the Community of Madrid, and, in the case of UC3M, has the support of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT, in its Spanish acronym) of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.